Document U.S. Pat. No. 5,647,981 describes a device which combines the principle of an electrocoalescer with centrifugation.
Water-in-oil emulsions can be “broken” by coalescence of the water drops through the action of an electric field. However, in order to increase the efficiency of these electrostatic separators, one tries to increase the electric potential between the electrodes, with a real risk of appearance of breakdown phenomena between electrodes. On the other hand, considering the residence time required between the electrodes, the effluent flow rate that can be treated is low, unless an installation of disproportionate size is used.
Document FR-2,824,489 discloses a combination between an electrocoalescer of determined shape and centrifugation and separation means specific to said coalescer.
The present invention aims to improve the separation means described in document FR-2,824,489.